Running board for railway cars



NOV. 29', 1932. j R JONES 1,889,605

RUNNING BOARD FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed July 25. 1950 Patented Nov. 29,1932 ulsursoY STATS PATENT OFFICE J RAYMOND JONES, lor SPRING HOUSE,PENNSYINANIA,y AssrGNoB. 'ro `ALAN WOOD s'rEEL COMPANY, A ooarOnA'rroNor rENNsYLvANrA RUNNING Bof-ian ron RAILWAY GARS Application filed July23,

My invention relates to running boards for railway cars and particularlyto running boards for railway tank cars.

Running boards for various types of railway cars have, in general, beenconstructed of wood, the boards extending lengthwise of the runningboard and, in certain cases, two or more boards have been required toconstitute the width of the running board.

Wooden running boards have the disadvantage that they are exposed to theweather and that they decay within a comparatively short time. Suchdecay is not always apparent before the running boards are in unsafecondition. It will be appreciated that a loose board with a projectingend or decayed board that is insufficient to bear .the weight of aperson constitutes a material source of danger.

Furthermore, wooden running boards become dangerous when they arecovered with a slight film of ice or snow by reason of the tendency ofpersons to slip when walking upon them.

In running boards constructed in accordance with my invention, I providemetal plates, the upper surface of which has extending therefrom acomparatively large number of projections which, for example, may be ofmodified diamond form. These projections are for the purpose of insuringsafe footing when walking over the ruiming board and are effective evenwhen the upper surface of the plate is covered with ice or snow.

The sides of the metal plates are provided with flanged edges whichoperate both as reinforcing devices and as guard devices for vpreventing missteps and for shielding the edges of the plates.

rlhe details of my invention will be described in connection with theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a railway-tankcar with the tank removed;

Fig. 2 is'a. vertical sectional view of the structure of Fig. l, takenon line 2 2 `thereof with the tank in position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view, in side elevation, of the tank and certainof its associated parts;

1930. Serallflo. 469,963.

j Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a corner portion of the running board;andV Fig. 5 is an enlarged elevational view showing the details of thesupporting means for rhe running board and taken on line 5 5 of lig. l.

A railway-tank car 1 comprises'the usual framework 2, includingtransverse beams 8, which may be of metal or other suitable material.The frame is supported in the usual manner by trucks 4.

The tank 5, which is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, is supported by the frame 2and is secured. thereto in any suitable manner. The tank 5 is providedwith a usual dome 6.

A running board 10 is supported at the outer ends of the transversebeams 3 and extends entirely around the periphery of the car. Therectangle thus formed constitutes a passageway on all sides of the tank5. The running Vboard 10 comprises a continuous series of flat metalplates 1l, the upper surfaces of which are provided with projections 12of suitable shape so as to provide security from slipping for personswalking thereon. The projections 12 may be of any desired number orform, such as oblong or of modified diamond form, and extendinglongitudinally of the plates.

As best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the inner edges of the several plates l1are provided with an upturned flange 13 and the outer edges of theplates are similarly'provided with a downwardly turned flange 14. Thepurpose of the inner flange is to operate both as a reinforcing meansand also as a vguard flange to prevent overstepping the inner edge ofthe running board.

The purpose of the outer flange 14 is to providereinforcing means and,in addition, to avoid a relatively sharp thin edge such as'would bepresent if no flange were' provided. Such sharp edge might causeaccidents by reason of its engaging the clothing or shoes of personsclimbing upon the running board.

The manner in which the plates are joined "at the corners of the runningboard is shown in Fig. 4. It will be noted that one of the side platesextends to the end of the running board and that the other or end platewhich is at right angles thereto ends at the inner edge of the firstplate, except that its outer flange 14 extends under the end of the sideplate to constitute, in eli'ect, an end iiange therefor.

In the same view, it will be noted that the adjacent corners of theinner flanges 13 are rounded in order to avoid sharp projections at thispoint. This arrangement is also in the interest of safety.

It is often desirable to replace wooden running boards with the improvedrunning boards of my invention and, in such case, the construction shownin Fig. 5 may be employed. The metal plates 11 are secured to the beams3 by means of spacers 1G in order to compensate for the greaterthickness of the wooden running board and its support.

On the sides of the tank 5 and adjacent the dome G are two platforms 17,comprising metal plates 18 of the saine general character as those ofthe running board 1U. The plates 18 are supported on brackets 19 and areprovided with loops 2O to be grasped by a person climbing` to one of theplatforms 1'4". A oortion of the outer flange of each of the plates 18is eut away in order to render the loop 2O readily accessible.

The running board of my invention provides an extremely 'lurablestructure and an arrangement that contributes to the safety of theusers. The rough upper surface of the metal plates provides an insuranceagainst slipping in case of inclement weather and theI arrangement issuch as to contribute materially to the neat appearance of the car.

The foregoing and other advantages will be appreciated by those skilledin the art of railway car construction and operation.

l claim as my invention:

1. A running board for railway tank cars comprisinga continuous seriesof horizontal metal plates with vertical flanged edges, certain of saidplates extending at right angles to each other and an outer flanged edgeof one of said plates overlapping an end of an adjacent plate.

2. A railway tank car having a rectangular frame, a tank supported onsaid frame, a substantially continuous running board on said frame andsurrounding` said tank and comprising metal plates with upper surfacesprovided with projections, said running` board having a. substantiallycontinuous inner upturned and outer downturned flanges throughout itslength and certain of said plates having portions overlapping otherplates at the corners of said ruiming board.

3. A railway tank car having a rectangular frame, a tank supported onsaid frame, a substantially continuous ruiming board on said frame andsurrounding said tank and comprising metal plates with upper surfacesprovided with projections, and platforms of

